Devonish, Hubert; Carpenter, Karen
Author Affiliation, Ana.
Towards full bilingualism in education: The Jamaican bilingual primary education project
Social and Economic Studies
Date of Publication
This paper examines the attempts to adress the rights of the speakers of Creole vernacular language varieties within the mainstream education system with a focus on the Caribbean. In particular the paper describes the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture ( MOEYC) approved Bilingual Education Project (BEP) currently piloted in Jamaica. The BEP and more recent research exploring the outlook of the general public towards the use of Jamaican challenge accepted notions of language attitudes towrds speakers of vernacular languages and learning and teaching of literacy skills at the primary school level. The results show that children in grades one an two of a government primary school acquire literacy in both Jamaican and English simultaneously and can readly distinguish between the two language varities both orally and in writing. The objectives to teaching in Jamaican raised in the past , such as a lack of public acceptance and a lack of a standard writing system need revisisting given both the sucess of the BEP and the shift in public opinion.....